Chapter 2 - THE CAKE WASN’T THE THING SHE WAS TRYING TO DESTROYDavid rushed to the bakery.
Claire stayed home with Emily.
She had already given Emily her emergency medication, just to be safe.
David drove faster than he ever had.
When he arrived, he stormed through the front door.
“I need to speak to the manager!”
A young employee approached.
“Sir, can I help you?”
“Who made Emily Carter's birthday cake?”
The employee froze.
“Mr. Carter?”
“Yes.”
“There's a problem?”
David placed the receipt on the counter.
“My mother wrote that your cake contained peanut flour.”
The employee's face changed.
David noticed.
“You know something.”
“No.”
“Don't lie to me.”
The employee swallowed.
“Sir, I don't handle ingredients.”
“Then get someone who does.”
A manager appeared.
Her name tag read Rachel.
“What happened?”
David showed her the receipt.
Rachel read the handwriting.
Her face became pale.
“Where did you get this?”
“My mother.”
Rachel looked at him.
“Is your daughter Emily?”
“Yes.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“Oh my God.”
David felt his stomach drop.
“What?”
Rachel lowered her voice.
“Please come into my office.”
David followed.
She closed the door.
“We made your daughter's cake yesterday.”
“Yes.”
“Our recipe was supposed to be peanut-free.”
“Supposed to be?”
Rachel hesitated.
“There was a delivery mistake.”
“What kind of mistake?”
“We received a batch of chocolate flour from another supplier.”
David stared.
“Chocolate flour?”
“It was labeled as almond flour.”
David's blood ran cold.
“Was it actually almond?”
“No.”
Rachel whispered,
“It was peanut flour.”
David gripped the desk.
“Did you use it?”
Rachel nodded.
“Only in the chocolate sponge.”
David closed his eyes.
“How many cakes?”
“Four.”
“How many?”
“Four cakes.”
“Were customers notified?”
“We tried.”
“Try harder.”
Rachel immediately called her staff.
David stood frozen.
His mother had known.
She had tried to warn him.
And he had ignored her.
Rachel pulled up the supplier information.
“The flour was mislabeled before it reached us.”
“Who supplied it?”
“Westbrook Ingredients.”
David recognized the name.
It was one of the largest food distributors in the state.
“How did my mother know?”
Rachel shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then David remembered something.
Three days earlier, Martha had gone grocery shopping.
She had been carrying a folder.
She had said something about “checking labels.”
David hadn't paid attention.
His phone rang.
Claire.
“David?”
Her voice was shaking.
“What?”
“Emily is having trouble breathing.”
Everything inside him stopped.
“Call 911!”
“I already did.”
David ran out.
He drove home.
When he arrived, paramedics were surrounding Emily.
She was pale.
Her breathing was shallow.
“Dad…”
David grabbed her hand.
“I'm here.”
“I don't feel good.”
“Stay with me.”
The paramedic looked at him.
“Did she eat anything?”
David stared at the ruined cake.
“No.”
Then he remembered.
Emily had eaten a small piece of chocolate candy earlier.
David's heart nearly stopped.
“What?”
Claire began crying.
“She had one candy.”
The paramedic immediately administered emergency treatment.
Within minutes, Emily's breathing improved.
David almost collapsed.
The paramedic looked at him.
“She was lucky.”
David looked at the destroyed cake.
“No.”
He whispered.
“She wasn't lucky.”
May you like
He looked at Martha's note.
“She was saved.”
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